Why are all NASCAR activities canceled today at Bristol Motor Speedway?

NASCAR has canceled all track activities scheduled for Friday (April 7) at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Weather conditions have forced the governing body to cancel all sessions that were supposed to be conducted today in Bristol.

Bristol Motor Speedway is hosting the Food City Dirt Race for the Cup Series and the Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt for the Truck Series. Practice sessions for both series have been canceled due to unfavorable weather conditions. Before the weekend began, there was a 100% chance of rain on the weather radar.

Both the Cup Series and Truck Series had two practice sessions on Friday. The track activities were originally scheduled to begin at 17:35 EST and end at 20:57 EST. As of now, all the sessions have been scrapped.

Fox Sports Journalist Bob Pockrass shared the news on Twitter:

NASCAR has also asked crew members from both series not to come to the track in Bristol due to the weather. The draw for the heat races that were supposed to be conducted today will be held tomorrow (April 8).

All the teams will enter tomorrow's qualifying race without any preparation, having spent no time on the track. With the race being on the dirt, it will be tricky for drivers to get to grip with the track in the qualifying session.

Here is the schedule for the rest of the weekend:

Saturday, April 8

• 4:30 p.m. ET – Truck Series qualifying races - FS2
• 6:00 p.m. ET – Cup Series qualifying races - FS2
• 8:00 p.m. ET – NASCAR Truck Series race (150 laps) - FS1

Sunday, April 9

• 7:00 p.m. ET – NASCAR Cup Food City Dirt Race (250 laps) – FS1

The Food City Dirt Race will be contested over 400 laps. Catch live coverage on Fox and TSN (in Canada). The race will be streamed online on Fox Sports streaming and fuboTV. For radio coverage, tune into MRN or SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Alex Bowman and William Byron penalized by NASCAR

Penalty woes continue for Hendrick Motorsports as drivers Alex Bowman and William Byron were penalized by NASCAR for violations found in post-race inspections in Richmond. Race winner Kyle Larson has cleared the inspection and is the official winner.

The governing body has announced that both drivers will receive 60-point penalties and five playoff points penalties each. The team's interim crew chiefs Greg Ives for #48 and Brian Campe for the #24 car have been suspended for two races starting after the dirt race at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

This is a major blow for the team, which is still recovering from the penalties it received in Phoenix. Hendrick Motorsports said in a statement that it is reviewing the penalties and will take the next steps after the Bristol race.